Francis Dunnery

Dear Mrs. Perko,

I'm sorry for not writing sooner. I received your letter when I was
discharged from the hospital 29 April,then went straight to
Saigon for a week or so.

What can I say to fill the void? I know flowers and letters are
appropriate but it's hardly enough. I'm Johnny Boy, and I'm sick
both physically and mentally. I smoke too much, am
constantly coughing, never eat, always sit around in a daze.
All of us are in this general condition. We are all afraid
to die and all we can do is count the days till we go home.

We're all in desperate need of love. When we go to Saigon, we
spend all our money on women and beer. Some nights I don't
sleep. I can't stand being alone at night. The guns don't
bother me -- I can't hear them anymore. I want to hold my
head between my hands and run screaming away from here. I
cry too, not much, just when I touch the sore spots.

I'm hollow, Mrs. Perko. I'm a shell, and when I'm scared I
rattle. I'm no one to tell you about your son. I can't. I'm
sorry.

Johnny Boy

Cpl. John Houghton -- "Johnny Boy" -- was the friend of Terry J. Perko,
a lance corporal from Maple Heights, Ohio, who was
killed on 21 February 1967, five months after arriving in
Vietnam. They were serving with 1st Anglico Detachment, 1st
Marine Division, operating out of Chu Lai.
John Houghton, in Vietnam from October 1966 to October 1967, now
lives in Camden, New Jersey, and works as a deckhand on a
tugboat.

-taken from "Dear America -- Letters Home From Vietnam"

A tug pulled up behind the stage at Penns Landing, across the river from Camden, to listen to Francis Dunnery's extraordinary music last night. I hope Johnny heard it. "Riding On The Back".

"We are what happens to us", Francis said. Hmm?? But he also said, in essence, "Turn off that shit on the TV, listen to your inner voice. Quit your day job."

But before Mr. Dunnery closed out Singer-songwriter Weekend at Penns landing, 1998, there was Moxy Fruvous. They're terrific! They spotted this long-haired guy standing on the cement support post for a light pole, grooving to them, and they made up a rap about "the hippy on the pole". Then after the next song, they made one up about the maudlin hippy on the pole ("What if he wasn't a happy hippy?"). It was a highlight.

Francis Dunnery was a great worker of the audience, too. He got a groove going with his band, stopped playing and singing (leaving the bass and drums) and said, "OK, we aren't ending this song until everyone sings!" And it took a while, but he did get us singing (I was singing right away). On his last number, he sat on the front of the stage and jammed. It was terrific. I was standing in front at that point, albeit, off to the side. After Moxy Fruvous things cleared out some, plus people just moved around to get drinks and food and CDs (I saw lots of Moxy Fruvous CDs). Which allowed me to get up in front.

A couple from work actually sat near me, and said hello, but that was all- they were quite absorbed in each other. There were kids all around. It was fun to see two of the WXPN DJs up close- both women- one from Kid's Corner, and the other from the morning show.

Dust Storm
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